Discussion Without Limits

Film Review: The Vatican Tapes

If you’re an avid reader of my blog, you’ve likely caught onto the fact that I am super intrigued by demonic possessions, exorcisms, and the supernatural realm as a whole. Terrified, but fascinated by it. So, whenever I come across a film that dabbles with these topics, you can bet I’m sitting back in my bed with my laptop, clicking ‘play’ on Netflix, slightly sweating throughout.

Thus brings me to the film The Vatican Tapes. A 2015 American supernatural horror film, The Vatican Tapes is directed by Mark Neveldine from a screenplay developed by Christopher Borrelli.

The creepiest bit? It’s based on a true story.

Starring Olivia Taylor Dudley as Angela, Dougray Scott as her father, Roger, John Patrick Amedori as Angela’s boyfriend, Pete, and Michael Peña as Father Lozano, and portrays the seemingly normal life of Angela until she begins to turn a little terrifying. In the early stages of the film, Angela slices her finger open while cutting her birthday cake, and is taken to hospital only to be injected with a serum that causes her to develop a serious infection. Things take a rather dramatic turn after this, and Angela begins to display highly uncharacteristic behavior, such as seizing the wheel in a cab and causing a serious accident, convincing a police officer to harm himself with light bulbs (very unpleasant scene), and after being admitted to a psychiatric hospital, convincing her fellow patients to harm one another and themselves.

I’m not going to spoil the film, but it’s frequent reference to the Bible and the Catholic religion is fascinating if you’re knowledgeable about either. It deals with the Vatican, the Anti-Christ, and exorcisms, and the ending is an intense plot twist I certainly wasn’t expecting.

The acting isn’t stellar, but the story-line kept me intrigued right until the end. It’s not for someone with a queasy stomach, though; just a word of warning.

Image from https://nerdist.com/talking-childhood-demons-and-the-vatican-tapes-with-screenwriter-christopher-borrelli/